Gov. Jan Brewer: immigration announcement "outrageous"

Governor says policy amounts to 'back-door amnesty'

President Barack Obama's new policy to allow some young undocumented immigrants to remain in the country without fear of deportation adds a new level of complication to Arizona's controversial immigration law Senate Bill 1070.

But legal experts say the policy, which is similar to the Dream Act, also may offer some relief.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit challenging SB 1070 as early as Monday, and many believe the court will allow at least some enjoined parts to go into effect.

Most likely among those is the portion that requires an officer to make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested if there's reasonable suspicion that person is in the country illegally. Another portion penalizes immigrants for not carrying registration papers.

Gov. Jan Brewer described the new policy as "backdoor amnesty" and criticized Obama for making what she said was a preemptive strike against the anticipated court ruling.

"The crux of SB 1070 is documentation. (The president is) going to give documentation to nearly 1 million people who have arrived in the country illegally," she said. "The timing is unbelievable."

Under SB 1070, if authorities arrest or detain someone because of questions of legal status, local law enforcement would then notify federal immigration officials and the federal officials would then decide which next steps, if any, to take against the person.

"What the federal government is now saying is: 'If you turn over to us a young person who has grown up in the United States who is what they call a "dreamer," we are not going to do anything against them,'" said Evelyn Cruz, an immigration-law professor at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.

Also, under SB 1070, individuals can prove their legal status by showing various documents, including an Arizona driver's license.

Immigrants who fall under Obama's new policy can apply for a work permit. Cruz said that work permit will allow them to get an Arizona driver's license.

"So, these individuals will not be subject to either (part of SB 1070)," she said. "It's an indirect impact."

David Martin, a University of Virginia School of Law professor who served as deputy general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security from 2009 to 2011, echoed that.

"I suspect the documents these people get will count as registration documents, so there would no longer be a basis for charging them," he said. "And, even if police stopped and checked, the proper response from (federal immigration authorities) would simply be they are not going to take action against them."

But the details of when or how the immigrants who benefit from Obama's new policy will get documentation is unclear, which some say could cause at least temporary confusion if parts of SB 1070 go into effect before the government issues documents.

"And then, how will law enforcement be able to determine who is a dreamer?" asked National Immigration Law Center Executive Director Marielena Hincapié, whose organization is challenging SB 1070 in a separate lawsuit. "We might still find dreamers getting caught up in the system."

Alessandra Soler, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, whose organization also is challenging SB 1070, had similar concerns.

"SB 1070 fails to recognize that somebody's immigration status can't be determined simply based on whether or not somebody has papers," she said.

Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson said it's too early to tell what impact the Obama policy will have on SB 1070.

"We will need to see how the court rules on the various provisions before we have a clear picture," Benson said.